


A Hand in Holding Hands - Preview Chapter

by SkaianRedeemer



Category: Homestuck, MS Paint Adventures
Genre: Chapter Previews, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-04
Updated: 2012-10-04
Packaged: 2017-11-15 15:26:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/528748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkaianRedeemer/pseuds/SkaianRedeemer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Preview chapters for <i>A Hand in Holding Hands</i>, because I need text formatting.  The chapter is now up as AHiHH's Chapter 9!  http://archiveofourown.org/works/330885/chapters/992025</p><p>In this one: Rose and Dave try to talk about feelings and just end up talking about dicks, and Jade tries to enjoy the start of Feferi's pool party.  Spoilers: No.  Troll Speedos: <i>Yes</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Hand in Holding Hands - Preview Chapter

**Author's Note:**

> The chapter is now up!
> 
> http://archiveofourown.org/works/330885/chapters/992025

>   
> TG: all im saying is  
>  TG: if it were anyone but gigglefins id be suspecting some real middle school level foul play here  
>  TT: You're implying that someone else would have used a pool party as an excuse for noogeying and pool noodle duels?  
>  TG: middle school not grade school  
>  TG: homeschooler  
>  TG: but lets not talk about that lets talk about how pool noodle duels are awesome and how if id knew there were any on this rock theydve already happened  
>  TT: What a shame, I was hoping to hear more of your comparison between Feferi sharing her passions to sixth grade tomfoolery, I'm sure it would be very insightful / juvenile in and of itself.  
>  TG: im saying that if this were anyone else this would clearly be a big zany plan to get everyone in their bathing gear to work out those first awkward puberty tingles  
>  TG: and by the way criminally undershooting a good party if you asked my opinion  
>  TG: look me in the digital eye and tell me youd think this was perfectly innocent if somebody came up with this plan who wasnt already wearing their bathing suit every day of the week  
>  TG: which you wont because you wouldnt know a good time if it smacked you in the face with its long squishy noodle  
>  TT: Are you critiquing the sexual experimentation of middle schoolers? Because I'm not certain this is a route you want to follow to its end.  
>  TG: im critiquing the experimental whatever you want to call it of a group of teenagers with tons of better shit they could be doing partiers or otherwise  
>  TT: I already find it suspicious that you seem to have a set of presumptions about the sexual maturity of every member of our group.  
>  TG: of course i have presumptions my presumption is that the rest of you are all twisting to make some presumptions of your own wink wink nudge nudge the punchlines that you think this is racy  
>  TT: And yet, with all your suspicions about this being some sort of preteen gawking party for full-teens, you're still coming.  
>  TG: dont tisk me lady youre the one whos gonna going to all this trouble for a new bathing suit im not the only one raising a fuss  
>  TG: probably already called in maryam to dazzle it up for you  
>  TT: Actually: no, as it turns out I'm perfectly capable of using the alchemiter.  
>  TG: boring  
>  TT: Kanaya would gladly size you for a bikini if you'd like, she'd hate for her talents to go to waste.  
>  TG: nah mine still fits  
>  TT: Then I await its grandeur.  
>  TG: you should it matches the shades perfectly  
>  TT: So it's hideous?  
>  TG: its a stunning black work of art is what it is  
>  TG: like the most careful threadwork of the spandex gnomes working through the night to craft a great idol of fabric in worship and support of my stupendous jugs  
>  TT: And it's just sinking in for me that you plan on keeping your eyewear on even within sight of the pool.  
>  TT: What with all the sunlight.  
>  TG: of course the shades stay on rose ive gotta draw a clear line in the pretend sand between me and these flirty juvenile shenanigans  
>  TT: When teenagers are exploring the depths of their budding sexualities and need judging: he'll be there!  
>  TG: when theyre indulging crushes at random through a 1970s style swinger party downgraded game of spin the bottle: he'll be there  
>  TT: When they're risking a chancy fondle between kisses in the darkened confines of Seven Minutes in Heaven: he'll be there too.  
>  TG: in the closet  
>  TT: Right.  
>  TG: going all super creepy here at the end but we had better bring it home with the the grand finale: full-out forfeit-based singles and doubles strip poker  
>  TG: each game more complicated than the last  
>  TG: until everybodys shtuped everybody  
>  TT: Oh Strider.  
>  TT: What has the Internet wrought in you?  
>  TG: apotheosis  
>  TT: Well, if you say so, Mr. Dot Com.  
>  TT: So if we're seeing you – gawking, as you will, at our pre-assured gawking in turn – should we be expecting to see your companion in truancy, and if so, will she too be stripping down to her tin skivvies for the sake of this adolescent trap you've imagined for us all?  
>  TG: haha oh I WISH  
>  TT: !  
>  TT: Well here's a surprise. Not only does he not try to deny knowledge of what I'm even talking about in regards to a "companion", he flings himself into it.  
>  TG: oh no rose is suspicious of me and aradias constant and obvious disappearances whatever will i do better whip up the mother of all lies  
>  TT: Practicing for strip poker.  
>  TG: yes nailed it youre a godsend  
>  TG: okay but seriously  
>  TG: look i dont have much respect for this little peep party of peixes right?  
>  TT: As you insist on calling it, yes.  
>  TG: but you don’t know what this girl is like, rose  
>  TT: I know that she's a robot and your enthusiasm to inviting her to pool party is suspicious in the least.  
>  TG: not my point my point is that she needs shaking up even if that means dragging her to a teen sex party or whatever were pretending this is now  
>  TT: I think you and I are pretending entirely different things.  
>  TG: the trouble is that ive never worked with someone whos "no audience" before i mean she's like a blank wall  
>  TT: Well the problem there is that you're just not the slightest bit entertaining, isn't it?  
>  TT: She's just not willing to humour you like the rest of us. I'm afraid our good graces have socially crippled you.  
>  TT: I did warn John but he insisted on coddling.  
>  TG: hey can it me and megido get a pretty good thing going when she wants to talk  
>  TG: she been tuning me in to some of her old physical training  
>  TT: Aradia?  
>  TG: yeah whips to use and deathtraps to dodge its just up my line but different enough to be new guys gotta stretch his growth  
>  TT: Interesting. I can't say it's something I"ve taken into consideration.  
>  TG: the girl who fights with knitting needles she first picked up a year and a half ago yeah i cant imagine why  
>  TG: now i dont really have a bone to throw back megidos way cause i cant shoot firecrackers from my fingertips after all  
>  TG: but i dunno for sure maybe its her computer brains but she seems to get pretty in tune with some of my mixes  
>  TG: and she knows a lot about the past and relics we actually spent a whole night talking about decomp it was something else  
>  TT: You mean, like your long-forgotten of collection of dead things?  
>  TG: yeah forgotten by you maybe  
>  TG: weve both got different perspectives on it but she actually knows her shit  
>  TT: Really.  
>  TG: yes rose really not all of us have nice tidy interests like godsquids im sorry  
>  TT: How on earth does one carry on a conversation of that nature for an entire night?  
>  TG: "of that nature"?  
>  TG: hell we were just talking about one angle  
>  TG: you wouldnt get it  
>  TT: You don't know that!  
>  TG: aw thats cute rose but im sorry its just not your field  
>  TT: I'm just not used to you having an interest in a branch of knowledge practical for any purpose but the performance of ill rhymes.  
>  TG: sorry rose but unless you go look it up yourself youre just gonna have to live with not being privy to the secrets of the formaldehyde-suspended gods  
>  TG: i make it a policy not to tell my secrets to the one friend who might find creative reasons to use them.  
>  TG: That's you.  
>  TT: I know.  
>  TT: So if things are so good for you and your mummy buddy, why this desire to drag her to the pool party?  
>  TG: well see its cool to talk and that but thing is she never does and i dont think even she likes that it goes that way youd probably get more out of it out of her than me  
>  TG: its like she forgets shes supposed to be a person half the time  
>  TT: And you're hoping to apply the social equivalent of a hiccup shock cure?  
>  TG: cmon rose admit it you wanna crack this metal nut too  
>  TG: look the only way i know how to keep this chick grounded in the real world and smiling is to let her babble about ancient troll history  
>  TG: which is actually kind of awesome i mean take any random bit of human history but spin it so its actually interesting but lets branch out here  
>  TT: I may have stumbled across a fault in your interest.  
>  TG: fault in everyone elses maybe  
>  TG: megido gets it and besides this fills a major life goal for me  
>  TG: ive filled my quadrants rose  
>  TT: Your quadrants.  
>  TG: yeah  
>  TG: my dork quadrants  
>  TG: ive got me my overeducated dork  
>  TG: my immature dork  
>  TG: my dork king  
>  TG: and at long last ive met a dork whose just the fucking normal kind you have no idea what kind of a relief this is  
>  TT: What a big day for you.  
>  TT: You've got them all.  
>  TT: You are you the very best, like no one ever was.  
>  TG: nice try but jades got juvie dork solid you dont have a chance  
>  TT: Worth a shot.  
>  TG: i just figured that maybe if medios my normal dork friend we could maybe sometimes talk about shit that isnt dork shit how about  
>  TG: normal people stuff that fun people do thats all  
>  TG: do i have to be surrounded by dorks forever  
>  TT: But we'd miss you.  
>  TG: but youd have a field week analyzing why youd miss me and by then id be back so no foul  
>  TT: But if you leave, who will fill my jackass quadrants?  
>  TT: You can't just strand me like this, Strider.  
>  TT: Eridan is clamouring for the self-important jackass slot and for Vriska in the backstabbing jackass  
>  TT: "wwe just need a good plan and then wwe jump her from behind! bam! she'll nevver see me comin!"  
>  TG: yikes  
>  TT: I'd really feel out of place without my trusty self-absorbed jackass.  
>  TG: hey dont look at me lalonde we both knew what this was about when we started  
>  TT: *sigh*  
>  TT: This is true.  
>  TG: why dont you do what all of us do in times like this and complain to our trusty, mutual, loudmouth jackass  
>  TG: hes so reliable  
>  TG: like a community service really he even fills his own slot for himself  
>  TT: I don't particularly care to bring Karkat into this affair.
> 
> [ _One of the problems with Rose and Dave's natural digressive style is that it's impossible to aim them. They're the the 14th century hand cannon of conversational flow. I wrote the lines to follow intending to connect the above to them at a later point, but am giving up on the connection for the time being._ ] 
> 
> TG: dont act like you wont be enjoying the show miss adolescent psychology  
>  TT: I promise I have no idea what you could be referring to.  
>  TG: well lets just say that someone i knows got a bi card that reads "pros: has a really fucking great time at coed pool parties"  
>  TG: among other things like "cons: doesn't exist"  
>  TG: but wow look at that pro rose its right there on the card cant guess thats the situation  
>  TT: Oh, don't be silly, Strider.  
>  TT: You know I only have eyes for you.  
>  TG: now see thats something that has to stop right the fuck here  
>  TG: first off because a guy shouldnt have to play flirt with his ectoglop sister when hes got only one layer of nylon weave between him and his junk  
>  TG: i mean that should just be a law or something  
>  TT: Don't worry, I'm prepared to let the thirteen other attendees make that an issue for you.  
>  TG: hey get the clown off that boner list right the fuck now  
>  TT: You're objecting to Gamzee?  
>  TG: in particular? yes  
>  TG: look did you never see my house in either of the timelines youve got tell me how many clown dolls there were with cameras in them rose  
>  TG: tell me that  
>  TT: All right. I can see that being a legitimate concern.  
>  TG: so lets just say i dont wanna know how far down the paint goes and leave it at that  
>  TT: …How curiously phrased.  
>  TG: oh i bet  
>  TG: second reason you should stop the rampant sibling flirt is that I don’t wanna get chainsawed in half that just doesnt fit my itinerary for the day  
>  TT: Yes, because Kanaya is certain to totally misinterpret your poor attempt to joke me into a private trip to the gym showers?  
>  TG: so thats how youre gonna be? youre not even gonna pussyfoot around with the whole "not my girlfriend" routine  
>  TT: Oh, I'll pussyfoot around whatever "not my girlfriend" routines are required to get the point across. Until the metaphorical cows come home, if they must, taking our insults at your erectile situation in an unfortunate direction.  
>  TG: think that one got away from you there rose  
>  TG: sometimes you gotta know when to bail on a dick joke before it gets outta hand you know better than that  
>  TT: Are you lecturing me on dick joke etiquette?  
>  TG: damn straight who taught you this horrible display of non sequiters  
>  TG: was it john i'll kill him  
>  TT: I learned it from you, all right?  
>  TT: I learned it from chatting with you!  
>  TG: oh good you didnt miss the setup theres still hope  
>  TG: okay its all right son so long as we both admit weve got a problem  
>  TG: now lets crack open your weed and get back to phunny phalluses 101  
>  TG: lesson one about the mushroom-tipped tuber growing out of your midparts is that it aint got shit to do with herds of cows  
>  TT: Fascinating. I was so off-base.  
>  TG: now you see son if you threw that one at the taurus troll you might be in business  
>  TG: you could even branch it out if you had different targets  
>  TG: like say a school of fish or a pack of cats  
>  TG: because lets be honest, "clowder of puss" is just asking for a gag or three  
>  TG: a gagging three  
>  TT: This opens so many doors!  
>  TG: youve got it kid  
>  TG: weed and cock gags were on our way to gay stoner heaven right here  
>  TG: but no okay seriously back on topic  
>  TT: "Seriously"?  
>  TT: What part of that exchange was even a modicum short of serious for you?  
>  TG: most of it  
>  TG: dont really give a shit if you wanna tell jokes about me and a hundred cows  
>  TT: ;)  
>  TG: but you really are my son rose  
>  TT: I knew it. I knew John was a liar.  
>  TG: he was just lying to protect you my boy  
>  TT: Daddy hold me I'm scared.  
>  TG: its okay my boy shhh ive got you  
>  TG: now make your old man proud turn this into an incest joke in exactly one step  
>  TT: Daddy your overwhelming fatherly cologne makes me feel funny in my now-poorly defined genitalia and/or gender identity.  
>  TG: thats my boy  
>  TG: thats my boy  
>  TT: Brb  
>  TG: ?  
>  TT: sending this to John.  
>  TG: wait wait hold on let me turn off my music  
> 

Through the wall, Rose heard the sound of her best friend make an odd, wet wailing sound at the back of his throat. "Oh my god." 

"John?" called Jade. "What is it?"

"Oh my _god!_ "

>   
> TG: great idea  
>  TT: Thank you.  
>  TG: okay but seriously back on topic no more pussyfooting around  
>  TG: from me this time that is  
>  TG: what the fuck is up with you and carmilla  
>  TT: Nineteenth century literature references to lesbian vampires?  
>  TT: Are you sure it's me you're worried about flirting with, because it seems to me as though you're hitting on Kanaya.  
>  TG: shit why does that keep happening  
>  TG: all the gay vampire-loving chicks all the time clinging to my high-necked cowl i mean really  
>  TT: And never a straight woman in sight.  
>  TG: starting to get a little discouraging is all im saying  
>  TT: Yes, I'm sure I can only imagine.  
>  TG: you can only imagine because you and our resident fashionista… AREN'T hiding hickeys from your last shot at roleplaying?  
>  TT: Don't be silly. Today I'm the one brushing her teeth to get out the blood.  
>  TG: right my bad  
>  TG: but seriously cmon we both know when it comes to kanayas bod in a one piece youre gonna go over the top one way or another  
>  TT: You seem so certain and yet I don't believe you.  
>  TG: yeah you play that up like that why not  
>  TG: way i see it youre either gonna 1) gawk at out of the corner of your eye while flicking some freudian pen at her because youre probably going to spend the party writing like a total dork  
>  TT: Dammit, I was actually going to do some writing.  
>  TG: or maybe 2) youre gonna just be all casual because youre already totally familiar if you know what im saying  
>  TG: all those late night trips to chez virgo  
>  TT: I guess I'm going to have to resort to books.  
>  TG: or 3) youre gonna be wearing the look-away shame of rejector/rejected  
>  TT: Dave are you trying to discuss feelings with me because this is a real breakthrough.  
>  TG: im trying to discuss the level of hot lesbian action in my overeducated nerd quadrant  
>  TG: fuck  
>  TG: or 4) maybe youre just not interested at all cmon rose throw me a bone  
>  TT: Not interested Kanaya at all?  
>  TT: Ridiculous. Have you so much as glanced at the woman when she's showing off her new clothes? She's gorgeous.  
>  TT: She'd be dynamite if she put some effort into emphasizing her sexuality but in a way I prefer things as they are.  
>  TT: As does she if I'm reading her right.  
>  TG: rose i dunno if youve noticed but those little catwalks she does are being done special for somebody whos not me and is just maybe the girl talking about sexual dynamite  
>  TG: like they use in the old viagra mines back home  
>  TT: Now you're just showing how little you know her.  
>  TT: Kanaya's "catwalks" are for her, primarily.  
>  TG: youre a crush-blind schoolgirl  
>  TT: I'm serious.  
>  TT: I promise you that if even we were intimately embroiled at this very moment, Kanaya's mind would still be, at least for a blink of distraction, on the arrangement of any lingering lingerie to highlight the mutual experience.  
>  TG: bullshit  
>  TT: If I lie, may I eat my hat.  
>  TT: Oh shit mulligan.  
>  TG: yeah why not  
>  TT: If I lie, may I eat out my girlfriend's bizarre hat-shaped genitalia  
>  TG: three points stuck the landing but bad form for just straight-up turning me the fuck off  
>  TG: im serious this is testy strider gross out zone day but no more clowns and no more unknown troll dangly bits i dont wanna think about it again  
>  TT: Again?  
>  TG: i keep picturing this weird blood-coloured prehensile aedeagus trying to twist its way up in my business  
>  TG: and i dont exactly keep much stock in that if you know what i mean  
>  TT: Did you honestly just use the word "aedeagus"?  
>  TT: I just had to look that up, I'm shocked and still several steps behind you.  
>  TT: How long have you been thinking about this, and more importantly, why?  
>  TG: dont look too much into it rose the bug parts knowhow goes back to the sticking dead crawlies in jars phase  
>  TT: And yet I'm not distracted by my ACTUAL question in the slightest!  
>  TT: By the way, you don't need to worry about any sort of crawling betentacled penii  
>  TT: They ejaculate into wide-brimmed buckets, Dave, not space-station toilet vacuums.  
>  TT: In my mind, that implies one if not both of them has downward trajectory and poor aim.  
>  TT: I personally suspect some sort of xeno-cloacae.  
>  TG: rose its hard to aim anything when youre  
>  TG: wait no forget it i got a better bone to pick  
>  TT: Not touching that one.  
>  TG: shut up  
>  TG: im too busy being shocked that miss rose "three gigs of tentacle porn" lalonde is going with the most boring sex organ known to man over the chance to make up some overthought alien weirdness  
>  TT: Is it that confounding to you that I might be genuinely interested the makeup of our be-candy-corned co-prisoners?  
>  TT: You who was, just moments ago, teasing me for this exact interest and worse in one Troll's "bod" in particular?  
>  TT: By the way, Kanaya isn't the only one I'm looking forward to seeing half-naked if we're going to be juvenile about it.  
>  TG: oh?  
>  TT: Oh yes, no counterattack for my accusations now the topic has changed back to one of teenaged anxieties. Truly this is score one for the Strider.  
>  TG: do you have a list for me or not?  
>  TT: Well, you for starters.  
>  TG: …  
>  TG: don't pause on me rose i ain't rising to that bait  
>  TT: I'm serious, though yes, it is mostly for ammunition purposes in our slinging matches.  
>  TG: oh good ive got a mostly nothing to worry about then  
>  TT: Nope.  
>  TG: lets move on  
>  TT: Well if you're not going to be pleasantly awkward about it I suppose I might as well just press on.  
>  TT: That being: Kanaya, John, Equius and in the hopes of worming a list from you in turn, Feferi's attractive but I don't really expect to see any more of her unless she drops her frills for no good reason.  
>  TG: zahhak really?  
>  TT: Yes.  
>  TT: Why not? Have you seen the boy? He's the definition of "built" even you can't deny that just out of hand, blah blah, sexuality joke, cultural norms, freud freud.  
>  TG: rose the man is moist  
>  TT: This is a pool party.  
>  TG: yeah okay if we wait for the filter to deal with it  
>  TG: also john? is that why this kanaya thing isnt as clear cut as it probably should be because i dunno i thought things were cool between you and egbert  
>  TT: My goodness.  
>  TT: You're genuinely concerned, aren't you? On some level, this level of the unknown in your friendships is setting you on edge.  
>  TG: well its not exactly normal but i dont exactly get to check in these days so im not exactly peachy when shits upside down and i didnt know or get to say a thing in edgewise good or bad  
>  TT: Yeah, I know that feeling.  
>  TG: oh  
>  TG: yeah sorry about that i guess  
>  TT: No. No I understand.  
>  TG: do you think so?  
>  TT: Well…  
>  TT: No.  
>  TT: Do you want to talk about it, perhaps if I make some sort of embarrassing gesture to dilute any connection between "Do you want to talk about it" and psychiatry?  
>  TG: nah lets just not  
>  TT: Nothing I can do at all?  
>  TG: you could fill me in without distracting us into pointless dick jokes or troll anatomy discussion thatd just end up spurting forth from your writhing noncon hardon  
>  TT: About me and Kanaya?  
>  TG: yeah  
>  TT: Well, if you think that would help. There's not much to say.  
>  TG: and yet i have a feeling were gonna be here a while
> 
> [ _Rose talks about her own stance on her relationship with Kanaya._ ] 
> 
> TT: Dave. I think you owe me a list.  
>  TG: well would you look at the time gotta go rose  
>  TT: Oh don't do this. You know I'll have it out of you in a few days. If not at the party itself.  
>  TT: Nylon mesh and all that.  
>  TG: and im out
> 
> \-- turntechGodhead [TG] ceased pestering tentacleTherapist [TT] \--

* * *

Embarrassed about her bathing suit as she hoped everyone else would be, Jade took some comfort in knowing that Nepeta agreed to meet up before heading to Feferi's. A critical part of her peace of mind was that she would come without Equius, whom Jade did not figure she could bear, considering. Unfortunately, Nepeta had taken this of all moments to remember that she was supposed to be a cat, and so was not wearing a bathing suit at all but her usual ensemble, which all in all made Jade feel worse. She wrapped her threadbare _Squiddles!_ beach towel around her shoulders and watched as Feferi wrestled Nepeta's filthy coat from her back and the shoes off her feet before she got them near the nice clean water. The roleplay did not cease, and Nepeta kept her eyes on the water (lake) and hot tub (hot springs) with tense hesitation from the beach (treeline).

Really, once the others started to arrive, Jade realized she had had no need to worry. The Trolls wore bathing suits just as uniform as their favourite tees: the boys' were black, with the symbol stemming from a coloured stripe along the right side, and the girls' were just like Feferi's, but without the dress portion. At first, however, there was no one there but Feferi, Sollux and Karkat, so Jade kept wrapped up for the time being. Karkat was doing laps, and Jade was surprised to find that he was actually quite good. 

"the cautious huntress approaches the lake to spy on the furtive motions of the elusive katfish!!" Nepeta lowered flat to the ground, as cats do, to peer over the edge of the pool, until Karkat came up to her at the end of a lap, where he stopped long enough to meet Nepeta's in-character glare with one of his own. Nepeta narrated on, her voice soft and low as though to keep her prey from hearing, if he were not within touching distance. "the huntress' purrey is brave, coming to face her in a clash of wills!" At this, Karkat lowered his eyes, and then blew off the thin layer of water on his lips and up in a mist towards her. Nepeta shrieked in play ("Spitting katfish!" she said with a laugh) and swatted him away and back to his laps. Jade caught a smirk on his lips before he returned to his crawl.

Having convinced Nepeta to give her her towel, Jade squatted down on its embroidered cats and wrapped her own around her like a shawl to watch the others arrive. Feferi hustled about, arranging and rearranging the gym's equipment, occasionally slipping into the girls' and boys' change rooms to see if anyone had come from some other route. Not long after Jade arrived, Feferi sent Sollux off to alchemize pool toys, which he did with much fuss and bother before returning and dropping a pile of encrypted cards to the floor. Many of these became pool noodles and inflatables, and Sollux took one of the former over toward the pool.

"KK," he said, and he jabbed at his friend with the noodle.

"WHAT?" Karkat demanded as he began to tread water, but Sollux continued to prod at him, grinning, until Karkat snatched it away.

Sollux giggled. "Eheheheheh. KK. Guess what part of a Smuppet this used to be."

" _Gyah!_ " Karkat flung the noodle away, where Jade was a little surprised that it actually floated.

"The nose, asshole," Sollux said, and he splashed his friend before heading over to the toys to inflate an inflatable seagoat.

Equius came next, and did indeed go straight for the pool, joining Karkat in laps, at a wide berth for safety's sake. A few minutes later, Gamzee arrived. A few seconds after that, everyone noticed at once.

"Gamzee…" Feferi stammered, "you're…"

"tHaNkS, i KnOw!"

Gamzee stood at the edge of the pool, slack, with his thumbs in the belt of his bathing suit. This was problematic, considering that he was wearing the smallest speedo Jade had ever seen, bright with swirling, glow-in-the-dark colours that spiraled towards the bulge in the middle. His natural slouch had his crotch pointed straight out and down, toward Karkat.

"HeY BeSt fRiEnD," Gamzee said with a grin that grew after he caught Karkat's eye. Karkat just gawked, and shook his head from time to time. Terezi, who had arrived with Gamzee, finally let out the laugh she had been holding in, and clapped Gamzee on the shoulder before slinking into the water. She needed no more of an entrance than that. After a dip underwater, she got up to pull Karkat away.

Feeling modest as a Victorian snowsuit next to Gamzee's crotch, Jade finally saw fit to remove her towel, set aside her glasses and threw herself into the water. The pool was big enough for the sixteen of them, and she found plenty of room to play. After a few minutes of swimming and a laugh with Terezi, Jade looked back to the poolside to find that several of the others had arrived together. Dave was there, with Rose and Kanaya, who had both dressed as though for a trip to the beach than to the pool, complete with a picnic basket Kanaya had stuffed full of drinks. It almost seemed almost out of place without a bottle of suntan lotion. The girls both wore sunglasses on their foreheads and Kanaya was a sight in a long beach wrap on top of her bikini. Nepeta, who was stalking about the "hot springs" near their entrance, remembered she was a shipper long enough to slip in a teasing whistle before scampering off. 

"Oh, well excuse me if I'm…" Kanaya scoped the room. "Yes, the only girl here brave enough to bare her navel." Any teenaged anxieties at Kanaya's striking outfit were buried in Jade by questions regarding the existence of Troll navels.

Kanaya went on ahead as Dave and Rose exchanged a few words, and Jade saw Rose's tongue train toward the corner of her lips as she watched Kanaya go, and laughed at a joke of Dave's that Jade felt was probably related. She went on to join her friend, lowering her sunglasses, only for Dave to tap her on the wrist and ask about them. She laughed again and answered, something about "all the sunlight," and rolled her fingers by Dave's face to a brief spark of Light.

Kanaya and Rose settled into two of the deck chairs Feferi or Sollux had set up prior, not far from Sollux himself, and Dave came over toward Jade. She went to meet him, but was forced to diverge when he caught sight of Gamzee and pulled aside, forcing Jade to follow. To Jade's surprise, it was only once he had gotten away that he noticed Gamzee's attire and pose, and Dave's façade broke for a moment, his lips parting in confusion. After a moment, he began to mimick the pose: first the slouch, then the hands, then the dopey look straight down.

"'Sup, Harley?" he said, having met her eyes.

"'Sup, boxers?" Jade returned.

"Don't know what you're talking about," Dave said, shifting naturally into a more statuesque position. His bathing suit was genuine Striderwear, with Smuppets on all surfaces. Jade had her doubts that he had ever wore them before coming to terms with what the smuppets were actually for – at this point, they were definitely worth the irony. The rest of Dave was smooth skin and lithe muscles, which Jade had absolutely no intentions of bringing up no matter how determined he was to pose them. Nepeta came to a skidding stop nearby. She was not so aware of Dave's game, or at least that was Jade's initial impression, and whistled to him too. Later, it would occur to Jade that she was probably playing the game with full intention.

"Hey kitty," Dave greeted. "You a bird now, too?"

Nepeta screwed up her face. "Nu," she said. "Chasing me makes me dizzy."

"Good, because I'm the only one who gets to be a bird around here," Dave said, and Jade feels he's fairly lucky that Nepeta did not overhear, because he would have been another dead craneraptor if he had.

Not that he didn't deserve it. "Hey Dave!" Jade chirped. "I wanna show you something."

He arcs one eyebrow. "Girl in a bathing suit with no pockets in an empty pool wants to show me something. Yeah, this ain't suspicious."

Jade winked.

Like she should have expected, Dave decided to open by critiquing her bluff – "Well, it's not _that_ empty." – before moving on to her wink: "And what the hell was that?" He then began to wink his own exaggerated winks.

Jade had to admit, she was out of subterfuge, and patience. "I'm going to pull you into the pool, Dave."

Like Jade had hoped, Dave had not expected her to pull out of a verbal repartee so quickly, so unlike he and Rose. "…Like hell you will!" he said, but he did not pull away his arm fast enough.

"Come…" she said, before overpowering him at once and pulling him well into the water. Jade thought she heard Karkat's sputtering and shouting even before she returned to the surface, and sure enough found him pulling to one side of the pool to get away from her.

Dave surfaced soon after, put his hands straight to his face, and then triumphantly declared: "And the shades are all right!"

"Fucking… could've killed us!" Karkat said from the far side of the pool. Jade was about to say something, but Dave spoke up first.

"Oh please, Vantas. Like you haven't taken a dozen Ogre clubs to the head to no consequence." Dave then reached up and took off his shades – Jade gasped: it was clearly the reaction Dave expected and Karkat was not going to provide. Dave lowered his bright red eyes at Jade. "You're gonna pay for that," he said, pointing with his folded shades.

"Am I?" she asked. "Who's gonna _make_ me?"

"Me," Dave promised, pulling his shades into his sylladex before he started to splash towards her.

Jade kicked back. "Well you've got to catch me first!"

And they were off.


End file.
